The Upside Down World of Robinious J. Straighternoggin - Opossum

    Robinious J. Straighternoggin is first cousins to Newtonious J Fluffynoggin, but everyone calls them Robins & Newton. Robins is a possum; possums like to come out at night, move very slowly & sleep upside down in a tree by their tail. If you scare them they will play dead, possums will get very stiff and will not move until the danger is gone.

    One day Robins was playing hide-n-seek with Ethan the Mohawk bat, (he likes to sleep upside-down too) and her other friend Mandy the Muskrat (she likes to play at night like Ethan and Robins. 
    The Straighternoggins (Robin’s parents) are both mimes & they work at night. Their home is a huge tree house. Robins has seven brothers and four sisters. With twelve kids in the house, it can be very crowded at times. Bath time is the worst; the youngest always goes first, and Robins is the baby.

    Today Robins has the house all to her self, her brothers have all gone to a chess tournament and her sisters went on a picnic with their friends. Robin the possum, Ethan the Mohawk bat and Mandy the muskrat have had so much fun. 
    They made a snack, watched TV and played hide-n-seek. “What should we do now?” asked Mandy the Muskrat.

    “Let’s tell ghost stories”, said Mandy. “NO!” said Robbins, “When I get scared, I can’t move at all, and it’s not funny.” “Hey!” “What are you going to be for Halloween?” asked Robbins. Mandy said, “I’m going to be a Princess.” Ethan said, “I’m going to be a Vampire Bat!” “What are you going to be Robbins?” They asked. 

    “I want to be something really different & creative,” said Robbins “like a grasshopper.” “But you can’t hop,” they reminded her. “Or maybe a Mummy,” Robbins adds, “Yeah that’s it. I will be a mummy!”     Her friends agreed that it would be the perfect costume for Robbins, because possums don’t move very fast, and neither do mummies.

    A few days later, it was time to get ready for Halloween. Mandy the Muskrat was dressed as the most beautiful Princess that the Shady Forest has ever seen. Ethan the Mohawk bat made a very convincing Vampire Bat. They both met up at Robin’s house to go trick-or-treating together. They rang the doorbell, and when the door opened . . . . .

    They were surprised to see Robinious J. Straighternoggin wrapped in bandages from head to toe. You could barely see her eyes looking out from the bandages. “How do I look?” asked Robins. “Wow,” they both said, “You really look good, just like a real mummy!” 

    After all the kids in the Shady Forest finished Trick-or-Treating, there was always a costume contest at Grandma Tortoise’s house. 
    Leaky Socket was dressed up as a woodpecker, Cyndi the Centipede was dressed up as a butterfly, Newtonious J Fluffynoggin was dressed up as a ghost, & Bucktooth Charlie was dressed up as a house cat. All the kids were so cute.

    Cyndi the Centipede won the prize for the cutest. Mandy the Muskrat won the prize for the prettiest. Ethan the Mohawk Bat won the prize for the scariest. Then the crowd heard Grandma Tortoise say, “And this year for the most original, the winner is . . . . . 

    Robinious J. Straighternoggin dressed like a mummy. You could not see it, but she grinned from ear to ear.
    After the party, they ate their fill of candy, and walked home. They all laughed so hard their sides ached. And they talked about that night for weeks.